Cairo: A French businesswoman has turned an old house near Riyadh into a tourist destination promoting local culture and products.
“I love Arabic coffee and incense very much,” the woman named Cecilia told Saudia TV on the site.
She added that four years ago she initiated a similar project in Abu Dhabi, motivated by her passion for discovering Arab culture.
In Saudi Arabia, she initially explored several areas for her enterprise including Riyadh, Abha and Taif. She was impressed by cultural diversity in the kingdom.
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“In Saudi Arabia, there are a lot of things I didn’t know about,” Cecilia said.
Running a house-turned-tourist attraction in a suburb of the historic city of Diriyah, she said her aim is to build a bridge between Saudi culture and foreigners whether expats or holidaymakers.
A local worker sounded enthusiastic too. “My role in this house is not only cooking and introducing foreigners to popular Saudi dishes, but also introducing them to customs and traditions and what distinguishes Saudi society,” the veiled woman said, adding that Saudi society welcomes and accepts the other.
“I’m always surprised by visitors from East Asia, Brazil, Denmark and from all over the world,” added the woman whose name was not given.
TV footage showed traditional Saudi products and furniture spread across the place where foreigners from different cultural backgrounds are hosted. The guests are welcomed to the house with a sign reading in French: “Bonjour Saudi”.
100 million tourists
In recent years, the kingdom has introduced a set of facilities aimed to draw more foreign tourists to the country as part of an ambitious development scheme designed to diversify oil-reliant economy.
Saudi Arabia’s tourism industry has flourished in recent years. The number of tourists in the kingdom surged to more than 100 million last year.
Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed Al Khateeb said earlier this year the kingdom’s tourism sector in 2023 fulfilled a target of 100 million tourists including 77 million local visitors and 27 million tourist arrivals.
He cited a strategy charted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman envisaging 150 million tourists annually in the country by 2030 including 80 million domestic tourists and 70 foreign million arrivals. The aim is also to make Saudi Arabia rank among the world’s top 10 tourist attractors.
